ONCE UPON A SUMMER BREAK
by astha22
Summary: Lily goes for an interview for a nanny when she is suddenly broke after the sixth year. But the ward turns out to be cousins with James Potter! Will she live in Potter mansion? Or will she not/
1. Chapter 1

_**ONCE UPON A SUMMER BREAK**_

_**Author's Note**__**: -This is for my first ever reviewer, .Alice, the first person to make me their favourite author, WillowRose, and my first ever beta reader Susan M.M. Thank you.**_

_**This is just a short tale, only about five chapters. I am mortally afraid of writing bigger pieces. **_

**CHAPTER 1:- ASKING FOR THE JOB**

Lily turned the page of the classified ads in the _Daily Prophet_, frowning slightly. Her sixth year had just ended, and she needed a job quite desperately. That was because her parents had shifted to the States, leaving the house to Petunia and her rather large fiancé.

And Petunia, being her jealous self, had refused to share. Lily was not even allowed to stay in the dank garden-shed.

So now, with sixth-year over, Lily was faced with the financial problems of a homeless teenager. She was currently living in the cheapest—and probably the dirtiest—room above the Leaky Cauldron on her already meagre college fund.

That was where the job came in.

She skimmed the various advertisements for waitresses, then stopped as an ad for a nanny caught her eye.

_Full-time witch Nanny wanted for enthusiastic four year old witch prone to accidental magic, preferably with experience, however minimal. No references required. Accommodations can be arranged on the premises, free food and boarding. Pay offered is forty galleons a week, negotiable. No restrictions on blood kind, no prejudice against muggleborns guaranteed. Contact: Helena Kimberton, Kimberton cottage, Gordric's Hollow._

"Forty galleons a week?" mumbled Lily. "What kind of a naughty child is she that they need to bribe in order to find a nanny?"

She read the entire ad again, trying but failing to stop her hope from rising. The words in the shady parchment reached out to taunt her, show her what could be._ Accommodations can be arranged on the premises…free food and boarding... Pay offered is forty galleons a week…no_ _prejudice against muggleborns guaranteed._

The job looked custom-made for her. She bought herself the paper—five knuts gone!—and tore the advertisement off. It was difficult not to dream. She would have free food and a place to sleep in, and she would not be living on charity. It grated her pride that Dumbledore had offered to give her money for books and other amenities out of the school fund, and now there would be no need!

Lily trudged back upstairs to her small and frayed living quarters. They were tiny accommodations and not what she was used to. But at least they were neat, clean, and hers for the moment.

There was no need to waste time, and Lily promptly took out her only 'interview dress' as she called. It was demure, a simple cotton dress of pure white, the monotony broken by emerald green lace running on the hem and collar. It was sleeveless, and just covered her knees. It had cost her two galleons, but she had consoled herself with the thought that it was a necessary commodity.

She changed quickly, applied minimum make-up to her lips and emerald green eyes, then rushed down the stairs, pausing only to tell Tom she was going for an interview.

She apparated to the address provided, though she had been advised not to apparate to places she hadn't seen. Why? Because it was free and quick. Never mind the fact that she was still uncomfortable with the sensation.

Lily appeared out of nowhere in front of a pretty little cottage set in its own charming garden. She liked the look of the place, it was quite homely and tidy. The smell of summer roses filled her nostrils as she walked up to the tiny brass knocker, shaped as a flying dove, and knocked. She idly noticed the germaniums in the window-box near the door, and was admiring the hodgepodge of summer colour in the garden when the door opened.

A tiny middle-aged witch, no more than five-four in height, was standing in the doorway. She smiled at Lily, her brown eyes turning warm, and wiped her hands on her pink apron. Her braided salt-and-pepper hair completed the picture of a medieval fairy tale.

"Err…hi," said Lily, a bit uncomfortable. "I am here about the advertisement in the _Daily Prophet,_ for a nanny?"

"Oh yes, love," she said, moving her rather hefty frame from the doorway. "Come on in."

"I am Lily Evans," said Lily, extending a hand. "I am Helena. Would you come in the kitchen? I was baking."

Lily followed her host to the kitchen, which carried on the theme of fairy-tale living. Lily wondered if this was deliberate.

"I was Diane's nanny. But I gave my two-week notice."

"Diane is—?"

"Diane Jenkins. The little witch you are asking to look after."

"Err…why did you…you know—give notice?"

Helena laughed at the younger witch's apprehensive look. "Don't worry. She is quite naughty, but lovely in her own right. I simply gave notice because I am an old witch, tired in the bones, and could not keep up well enough with the little imp's running and crawling and hiding and what not. And I am a person who believes in doing a job only if you do it well," there was a dash of pride in those words, and Lily understood it was a mantra she lived by.

"May I meet Diane? I can't agree like this."

"Sure, sure," the kind nanny assured her. "Are you comfortable using Apparation? The Mansion is on the other side of the Hollow. Shall we go?"

"Err…yeah."

The witch took her arms and twisted, taking Lily side-along.

And they reappeared in paradise.

The imposing wrought-iron gates opened to a long, tree-lined gravel driveway, which twisted gracefully around a marble fountain before stopping in front of the most graceful Manor Lily had ever seen. It took a gigantic effort to even walk. The building was set in dignified grey stone, the arcs enormous and beautiful. The bay-windows flanking the high oak door were set in stained glass.

If Helena lived in the fairy-tale cottage, this was the castle.

It was so beautiful. The Manor, the garden, the fountain… so very… _elegant_.

"Ready?" asked Helena, grabbing hold of the brass knocker. This one was shaped like a lion's head.

Lily gulped. Suddenly she didn't feel as confident. Wouldn't she look like a vagrant in a house like that?

"Lily, dear?" Helena asked again.

Was she ready?

_**Author's Note**__**: - So? What do you think of this? Will Lily refuse a golden opportunity only because she is insecure? Well, don't forget, Lily's a Gryffindor for a reason! Please review on my first ever novel!**_

_**NEXT: - Lily meets Diane! Does she get the job? And she also meets Diane's cousin (groans!).**_


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2:- BEAUTY AND THE GORGEOUS**

Lily nodded, biting her lip and concentrating on trying not to fidget.

Helena let the knocker drop, and almost immediately the double-doors opened without a creak. Lily, who had been expecting a snooty butler with a crisp British accent, was presently surprised to see the tiniest little house-elf she had ever seen. The huge blue eyes almost filled the head, the big bat-like ears twitching. Lily noticed that this elf was wearing what looked like a pink Roman toga.

"Good morning," said the little thing in a very high pitched voice, bowing deeply and almost toppling in the process. "And welcome to—"

But she—at least Lily guessed it was a she—was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal of delight as a little white rocket hit Helena right in her ample bosom.

"_NANNY!_"

On closer inspection, the rocket turned out to be a girl. In fact, Lily got her first look of little Miss Diane Jenkins. The face was still chubby with baby fat, and her raven hair escaped her pretty green hair-band to fall in eyes such vivid blue that for a minute that was all Lily could see. Diane had on a white frock, very muggle-looking, which would have looked good when it was washed and ironed. For now, it was dirty and crumpled. There was dirt on Diane's feet.

In short, she looked exactly like someone her age should.

Helena laughed. "Hello, Dee-Dee," she said, waving the house-elf away.

"Why are you going away, Nanny?" came the swift question. "I did somethin wrong again, didn't I?"

"No love," said Helena patiently. "Here, this is Lily. She will be your new nanny for this summer. Say hello."

"Hello, Miss Lily," said Diane dutifully, then turned back to her eloping Nanny. "But I don't want you to leave me! I love you!"

Helena looked like she was going to cry at the little girl's declaration, and so Lily found herself nudging into the conversation. She sat down on her knees so that she and the pouty child were at the same level.

"How old are you, Diane?"

"Four and five-twelfths, Miss Lily," came the prompt answer. Diane puffed her chest proudly.

"Oh. Then why are you behaving like a baby?" Lily asked innocently.

"Am not!"

"Yes you are," came the gentle reply. "Your Nanny does not live far away, and you know you are welcome anytime, so why are you creating such a fuss? Don't you think she deserves a summer vacation, beautiful?"

"Like Cousin Jim? He doesn't go to Hodwerts in the summer cause its too hot. Nanny wants a—a… waka— vaca—sion like that?"

"Yes," replied Lily, neither knowing nor caring who Cousin Jim was.

It took a while for both Helena and Lily to placate Diane, but when the little witch had run back to the garden to make mud-pies, Helena thanked Lily for her help.

"Oh, well, she looked miserable…Really, it was nothing."

"Oh yes it was."

Lily turned to see who had said that. At the end of the long foyer stood a young woman in a long pale-gold dress robe, with short, spiky black hair, and a deeply amused look in her—familiar?—hazel eyes.

"I have never seen anyone so comfortably avoiding a tantrum," she carried on, marching forward. The handshake she gave Lily was firm but gentle, a rare combination, and Lily had an insight that she would be a similar kind of mother. "Come into the parlor."

The parlor was magnificent—obviously—and was tastefully decorated with subtle antiques. The fireplace was full of sweet smelling summer blossoms, as it was the middle of June, and the mantle-piece above it was cluttered with knick-knacks that make a house a home. Lily was particularly attracted to a birthday card to _'world's best mommy'_, which was in her clear line of view as she sat on the proffered seat by the silk curtains adorning the French bay window.

"You must be Mrs. Jenkins. Hello. I am Lily Evans. I came about the—"

"You're hired."

"—advertisement in the…Wha—what?"

"You heard me. Anyone who is capable of making my girl smile through her tears is worth a try. If you are not worthy enough, you will be asked to leave with a reference and a severance pay. If you hurt my daughter, I will plant my dragon-hide boots up your ass. Am I understood?"

Lily, whose jaw was hanging wide open, simply nodded dumbly. Was she dreaming?

"Good. Was the pay offered satisfactory?"

"Err…it was a bit too much."

The hazel eyes winked gold with humor. Lily sensed Helena stifle a chuckle.

"Trust me; it will seem too little when you are running after my daughter. Anyway, as I said, you are hired. Listen up. I am going to the States for some work, and am leaving Dee-Dee with my sister. The only problem is that my sister, Jenny, works at the ministry. My nephew can take care of her in the day, but…I don't trust teenage wizards with toddlers. Will you live here?"

"If it isn't too much troub—"

"I wouldn't have put it in the advertisement it that were so. So? Are you in or out?"

"Are you always so no-nonsense and straight-forward?" Lily blurted out before she could stop herself. She mentally kicked herself for speaking first and thinking later, but the two elder witches just laughed.

"Damn right," said Mrs. Jenkins. "I can't do the small talk at—"

But she was interrupted by the loud opening of the door to the parlor, and an enormous bellow of 'HEY NANNY! I HEARD YOU WERE HERE! CAN I _PLEASE_ HAVE SOME TREACLE—'

The bellow stopped abruptly on a choking sound, and Lily tilted her head to see who the crazy man doubled up in the doorway was.

She gasped when her eyes met a shock of naturally untidy jet-black hair. Hazel eyes, wide as dinner plates, goggled at her from behind thick lenses.

The gorgeous hunk panting in the doorway was James Potter.

_**Author's Note**__**: - So? What say? Will Lily stay now that 'Cousin Jim' is revealed? I am sorry for passively killing James' dad by not mentioning him, but my whole plot looks better without him.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:- I MUST HAVE LEFT MY BRAIN HOME WHEN I APPARATED**

Lily gave him a look that was meant to kill him on the spot. Painfully. What was he doing in her dream house? The nerve of him!

"Ah," said Mrs. Jenkins. "This rude young man is my nephew James. I believe you two might study together in Hog—"

"Aunt Jill?" interjected Potter, his eyes still ogling me. "May I talk to you for a second? Out in the hall?"

Mrs. Jenkins left with an apology, and James shut the door politely behind them. His eyes were still a bit unfocused.

Lily's mind was running in over-drive. Had he somehow planned all this? The sneaky bastard! She was going to castrate him with a rusty spoon, she vowed. And after that she was going to…

"What the fuck is _she _doing here?" came Potter's agitated voice from the hallway. Helena bristled at the profanity.

"You mind your language with me, young man. She is Dee-Dee's new nanny."

Lily waited for the smug satisfaction she was sure was on the cards. Instead, Potter led out a long string of profanities that Lily was sure would make an entire fleet of truck drivers flush violently.

"_James!_"

"She can't be here right now. No way. Uh-uh. No ma'am."

"I have already hired her."

"But—I am not ready for her yet. I—you can't throw the work of the last two weeks in the gutter… you will ruin everything!"

What the hell was Potter talking about? Was he doing some experiments he did not want the prefect to see? Yes, that made a sliver of sense.

Outside, James' voice turned wildly speculative. "Me and Padfoot could stay at Moony's, couldn't we? Or else we could stay in a tent in the village square. Or—"

Helena waved her wand at the door and all Lily could hear now was a faint buzzing sound. "No need to hear the boy rant," said Helena wisely. "So, you know him?"

"Yeah."

Mrs. Jenkins returned before Helena could ask for details, though. The no-nonsense woman straight-away asked, "You are in my sister's house, the Potter Manor. My nephew, who will be living here in the summer, is James Potter, your school-mate. Do you still want the job?"

_Of course not!_ Something nagged at Lily, and stopped her from saying the words out loud. Why didn't Potter want her here? He didn't want her around him now, did he? Well… Lily started remembering all those days when she would tell Potter—fruitlessly—to leave her all alone. He wouldn't go away, would he? Well then, she could accept a month of his company just to see him squirm with her unwanted presence. Ha! The perfect pay-off.

"Yes."

"Wonderful! Now, let's talk about other things…"

They talked for another hour, going over the rules of the household and her contract clauses. As Potter lived here, there weren't many rules—unbroken or absolute, at least. After that, Lily talked to Diane again, and met Pinky, the little elfkin.

"Pinky is very pleased to meet you, Miss Evans. Enjoy your stay at Potter Manor." The elfkin's bow was so deep that she almost toppled over. Lily smothered a very unladylike oath. They made this tiny little elf work for them? How high-handed of them!

She met Mrs. Potter too, the woman of the household, who had returned from St. Mungo's just to meet her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Potter," said Lily. "I am the new nanny, Lily Evans."

"Ah…hello," Mrs. Potter shifted her dragon-hide bag to shake Lily's hand. "Will you be staying here, then? I would love the company, trust me I will."

Lily liked them all a lot. Well, other than a certain character, the family was quite wonderful. She was informed that Sirius Black usually had dinner with them all, as his own house was still being properly furnished.

Another pebble in her already hurting shoe. _Sigh!_

She was asked to shift in the next day, and Lily waited until she was safely back in her room in the Leaky Cauldron before doing a celebratory jig that rocked the floor below her.

The next day saw her dragging her school trunk and carrying her reluctant cat, Lilliput, out of the Leaky Cauldron. She paid her tab, smiled at the sense of freedom that seeped through her, and then apparated to the Potter Manor.

She met Mrs. Potter at breakfast, and talked a little about the horribly warm weather. Her son was nowhere to be seen. It was then that Pinky showed her to her room.

She did not know what she had expected the guest-room to be like, but it surely was not as grand as this.

The simple wooden door with the lion-head doorknob opened to a room thrice her own at home. The walls were covered in dusky rose-colored wallpaper, which turned darker as the light from the curtained window was reflected by the plush maroon carpet. A small fireplace adorned the wall opposite the enormous four-poster bed. The bed itself was a larger version of the one Lily was used to at Hogwarts, which was a blissful luxury.

There was electric lighting in the shape of artistically shaped cherubs and nymphs.

"You have electricity?"

"Yes, Miss Evans. Master thinks it his very serviceable and useful," came the instant reply.

Lily jolted a little when she realized that James was not Mister James. He was the man of the house, the elf's Master. And if the adoration in Pinky's eyes was any indication, a very good Master at that.

She would reserve judgment on that.

Pinky asked if she could help with the unpacking, but Lily preferred doing that herself. It took her an hour to get unpacked, and as Diane was still sleeping, she allowed herself the luxury of a cold bath in the pearl white paradise that was her bathroom.

As she lowered herself into the tub full of bubbles, she thought, _well, here I am._

_For better or for worse._

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: - Hi guys. Thanks awfully for your support. I still kind of get a jolt when I see a review.**_

_**Cheer up. Lily is in James' house **____**.**_

_**NEXT: - Lily thinks of her life in the Manor, and thinks about James a lot…**_


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4:- LIVING WITH ****THE DEVIL**_**HIM**_

Lily understood a great many things about the Potter house hold in the next two weeks. She understood a lot about the Potters, but James…he was another story.

She hardly saw him. Oh, he was polite, all right, saying 'good morning' and 'good afternoon' at all the right times. But…

Mrs. Potter would long be gone when she woke up at seven, and she would see James at breakfast. He hardly said anything to her…except perhaps to pass the rolls or enquiring if she had a good night's sleep. He played with Dee-Dee in the garden after that, while Lily read the newspaper. That was when Black would arrive, and both of them would go out, only to return by lunch, and then to disappear again till dinner, by which Mrs. Potter would have returned. Lily had a nagging feeling that Potter was trying very hard not to actually stay in her vicinity longer than necessary.

He did not make any advances towards her, and he kept a cautious, no-contact space between the two of them. And he called her Lily.

Weird.

And she missed the old James a little…okay, a lot. She was too used to being told that her new haircut looked good, or that she was beautiful.

Though Lily would paint herself hot pink and dance naked in King's Cross before she said that out loud.

James had a very nice relationship with his cousin and mother too. James and Sirius were both odd teenagers when it came to James' mother—both of them loved cuddling and nuzzling the tiny woman, freely pecking her or pestering her for cookies like three-year-olds. Dee-Dee adored 'Jim', and both of them spent their mornings baking mud pies in the garden. She usually cleaned up after the children.

Because Lily was slowly realizing that James was only an over-grown child, cranky when he did not get the attention he wanted. That led her to believe that Potter ran after her because _she_ didn't run after _him_.

And if she felt a pang of sadness as she thought this, she dismissed it as irrational.

Lily shrugged off her depressing mood as she climbed out of bed. The sun was bright, the grass was green, the flowers were gay, the...you get the drift.

Pinky was instantly at Lily's side to help her start her day. It did not matter that Lily was up really early today. Early as in five in the morning.

Pinky was a little elfkin, the daughter of Gobbo and Penny, the Potter and Jenkins house-elves respectively. Her elder brother Lenny was now with the Jenkins household. When their parents had died, they had refused to accept clothes, instead choosing to stay and take their parents' place. Lenny was old enough to work, but the same was not true for his sister.

But the Potter family—it consisted of James, Mrs. Potter, and Black, by the way—had outwitted the stubborn elf.

They did not let her do any actual work. She laid the table for dinner, opened the door for Black, and did a little dusting in the living room. Of course, they allowed her to fetch and carry a lot, just so as to smother her ego.

Lily allowed Pinky to put out her bath water, though she didn't see why she couldn't do that herself. She took a long, leisurely hot bath, and then dressed in her sun-dress. She couldn't, for the life of her, think why she was up so early.

She made her way to the gardens, bidding Pinky to go back to sleep. The gardens were so enormous, sprawling lawns and blooming flowers, that Lily often felt she could get lost if she wasn't careful.

She sat on a stone-bench and simply breathed. The air was fresh, even a little chilly. She knew this wouldn't last as the day wore on.

Her mind wandered as she sat. Dee-Dee had made a picture of James today, and he had made her sign it. Her first 'portrait', according to her cousin. She was horribly excited. Dee-Dee had already decided that she was going to stick it to the wall in James' room when he wasn't there.

Dee-Dee was the only person allowed in James' room. No one else could come in at all, because of the wards James had put over the place. Even Pinky did not clean the place. Heaven only knew how the place would look. He took 'do not disturb' to a whole new level.

Lily had once asked Dee-Dee why she was the only one allowed inside.

"Cause I'm his back-up."

"I am sorry?"

"I'm Cousin Jim's back-up. Didn't I get the word wight? He loves this girl in skool, but he acts real silly with her, so if that doesn't work out… Cousin Jim's gonna drink for a few years and mawwy me in Vas Legas wen I grows up."

"Huh?"

"And…oh yeah. Then I'm gonna throw away all his bottles and twake care of 'im."

Lily was still thinking that one out. What man tells his four-year-old cousin that he is going to marry her in Las Vegas?

She started when she heard a rustle to her right. There was something in the clump of trees. She was dead sure of it.

"Pinky? Is that you? I told you to go back to sleep!"

No answer.

Lily tried to see through the thick foliage and almost flat on her face when she saw it.

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: - Just one more chapter to go now!**_

_**NEXT: -Well… **__**(drum roll, if you please) …Lily meets the stag! And she realizes that James really loves her. How? Wait and watch!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5:- EPIPHANY**

_Beautiful._

The golden stag stood at the edge of the trees, his head held high, his posture erect and vain. It had a powerful frame which seemed to rev with energy, and though Lily had never seen a stag, she was sure this one was at least twice the size they usually were. She inched forward, wanting to touch that gleaming coat, but still scared it would run away.

But it didn't. Lily approached slowly, a little apprehensive, but the way the intelligent whiskey-colored eyes gazed at her, she knew it wouldn't harm her. She knew somehow this wasn't an ordinary stag. Its gaze was intent on her face, the posture unwavering. There was only a flicker of apprehension in its eyes, but then that too was gone.

It bowed that mighty head when she approached, carefully keeping its antlers away from her out-stretched hand.

It licked her hand.

Lily jumped, she couldn't help the jolt. The moistness on her hand disappeared immediately, and the stag turned tail and ran away from her.

"No wait," she cried after it. "Don't go. I…I am sorry. I didn't mean to…"

There was no use. It was gone.

Lily turned to go back into the house, shaking her head. Of course, she had scared the beast. Animals as magnificent and beautiful as that were not meant to be tamed. They were wild and free creatures, who stayed if they really liked or loved you.

And where the hell had that come from?

"MISS LILY! HELP!"

Dee-Dee skidded to a halt in front of Lily, out of breath and near tears. Lily's heart shuddered once, then apparently stopped working. "What happened Dee-Dee? Where does it hurt?"

"I bwoke it…I bwoke Cousin Jim's diary…"

She then put out her little hands, one carrying a thick, leather-bound book, and the other, a torn page. "I bwoke it… Cousin Jim wasn't in his room and the diary was on the bed, and I was tryin to stick the potrate on the wall… and I stepped on it…it bwoke…"

"It is not bwoke—err, broke—Dee-Dee. It is just torn. I can easily fix that!"

"You c-can?" Dee-Dee sniffled. "Pwease, Miss Lily? Will ya fix Cousin Jim's diary for me? It's real spec-spe…special, it is for her. For the girl he lowes…"

Lily looked at her. "What?"

Dee-Dee nodded, ready to help. "My Cousin George, you know, came over and Cousin Jim talked to her a lot. She looks like a boy, you know, just…she isn't. Anyway, she tell Cousin Jim to stop pet—no, per…erm—pestring—there!—pestring her and write down stuff he feel like twelling her. And… well, that's his writing diary and… and he's—he's gonna hate me now!" Dee-Dee dissolved back into tears.

Lily smoothed the child's fears. "There, there. I am gonna fix this in a jiffy. You go into the garden now, and play. Take Pinky with you. Did James say where he was going?"

"Uh-huh," said the little girl, shaking her head so that her piggy tails shook merrily. Then she ran off to play, certain that Miss Lily was going to put everything right.

Lily repaired the diary with a simple _Reparo_, then just gazed the cover. The cover said, '_Becoming Worthy of Her_'.

She knew she shouldn't read it. She shouldn't read a private diary. Besides, who knew what kind of kinky thoughts he would have put in there? She was even apprehensive towards the kind of man she would find in there. All through the summer James had been challenging her idea of the kind of man he was, and she was afraid that if she opened the diary she would find no reason to hate him anymore.

But her fingers turned the book open. She could have sworn she did not consciously do it, but she was busy reading...

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Err, hi?**_

_**Right. Here's the deal. George told me to write stuff down in a conversational lingo, and I am writing it down. I really wanna say all this to Evans, but… I know she will castrate me with a rusty spoon if I try. Besides, I am scared shitless of her answer. What am I gonna do if she laughs at my feelings? Being in love is a whole new bloody territory for me, and well, I don't know what to do. So, here goes. If this doesn't work out, I am gonna skin George's hide and feed it to her, because writing in a diary feels like being a school-girl with a crush.**_

_**Well, here goes nothing.**_

_**I don't wanna embarrass or harass or stalk you, Lily. Its just that…**__** I blurt stuff out before really thinking about what I am saying in your vicinity. You bring it out in me.**_

_**And that slimeball Snivellus… why should he be allowed to touch you when I cannot? Why do you smile at him and not at me? Not anymore, though. But let's talk about that prick later.**_

_**I love you. I want you. I need you to love me back. I don't know what I could do without you. I would give up the world just to see you smile. I don't need anything else, Lily, as long as you're with me. You mean the world to me. I love you. I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!**_

_**Phew. Talk about baring your soul.**_

_**Well—**_

"MERLIN'S PINK PANTS!"

Lily started, and looked up to see two thoroughly panicked hazel eyes gazing at her. James snatched the diary from her hands, and said, "Forget that, it's just a joke. I…"

The rest of his sentence drowned when Lily jumped up from her easy-chair and kissed him.

James couldn't stop his reaction. How many weeks, months— hell_ years_—had he dreamed of kissing his Lily? Now that the time had come, Lily, who had perhaps gone bonkers and flipped, was really _kissing_ him.

Then the rest of James' brain cells fried, and all he could do was feel. Feel the way Lily's tongue danced with his, and the way that feisty little body fitted to his. Feel, rather than hear, the low hum of appreciation in her throat.

Appreciation. For _him_. Well, for his kissing. Same thing.

At last she lifted her head, tilting it back to look into his eyes.

"I love you too, you moronic idiot. I love the way you cuddle your mother and cousin, I love the way you don't let Pinky work too long, I love the way you… I love the way you love me. Now stop gaping and kiss me with that excellent mouth."

And he did.

_**AUTHOR'S**__** NOTE : - Yipee! James is happy, and I am happy. I finished it. I finished my first bigger-than-a-one-shot fan fic. Awesome!**_

_**Please review, people. Please. And oh yeah, I had a few problems with a novel (original, not a fan fic) I am writing. Can you help me? Go to my profile and you will see what problem I have. Thanks! **_


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